C. C. H. Pounder was born on December 25, 1952, in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), the daughter of Betsy Enid James Arnella and Ronald Urlington Pounder. She was educated in England and moved to the U.S. in 1970, where she attended Ithaca College. Pounder made her acting debut in the 1979 film All That Jazz.